AirPods when riding ?? Yes or no

[chrismechmaster]

Just wondered peoples thoughts / views on listening to music while riding ??

I ride mainly alone so thinking it would be good , but I guess there is the risk of not hearing traffic other riders walker or even something breaking down on the bike !!

anyone use them ??

 

[skinipenem]

Just wondered peoples thoughts / views on listening to music while riding ??

I ride mainly alone so thinking it would be good , but I guess there is the risk of not hearing traffic other riders walker or even something breaking down on the bike !!

anyone use them ??

What if they fall out?
Seems like a good way to piss anti-ebikers off.
Difficult to hear others.

That being said, I ski with music. It is rare that anyone passes me skiing though so hearing others is less important. Helmet speakers are super easy to tap and pause the music.

 

[Bomble]

When I’m out on my own I always ride with cordless ear bud things. I turn them up/down/pause depending on situations, easy to do, tap twice for pause etc.
I have found it is surprising how much I rely on hearing when I go down steep sketchy stuff, if I forget to turn it down it turns to shit easier as I can’t hear the tyres

 

[Silent Drone]

I use airpod pros quite a lot on the trail. Audio books, podcasts and music. They never fall out. I also have a bell to let people know I’m there in case I don’t see them first. If you turn off the noise cancelling you can hear others just fine.

 

[chrismechmaster]

What if they fall out?
Seems like a good way to piss anti-ebikers off.
Difficult to hear others.

That being said, I ski with music. It is rare that anyone passes me skiing though so hearing others is less important. Helmet speakers are super easy to tap and pause the music.

That true never thought about them falling out and i have big ears lol so probably would

 

[Rusty]

I often ride listening to music or ebooks when I am just out spinning. Only wear 1 side so I can hear runners, other cyclist, auto traffic etc.

Have had 3 or 4 crashes over the years with people listening to loud music and having no real understanding what is happening around them.

As an aside - I was reading an article in a magazine while at the dentist last year. An insurance company refused to pay out when a cyclist caused an accident, wearing ear buds and not being aware of surroundings. In the resultant court case the judge agreed with the insurance company that rider was not taking due care.

 

[Gary]

I pretty much always use bluetooth truebuds to listen to music while commuting or road biking. They're a similar sort of shape to airpods so they still allow me to hear traffic. Not so much for mtb unless it's a duller XC type ride.
I'm very very aware of my surroundings while riding as I constantly have to pre-empt the stupidity of other road users and pedestrians.

 

[Gary]

As an aside - I was reading an article in a magazine while at the dentist last year. An insurance company refused to pay out when a cyclist caused an accident, wearing ear buds and not being aware of surroundings. In the resultant court case the judge agreed with the insurance company that rider was not taking due care.

That's absolutely ridiculous.
Plenty deaf people cycle without causing accidents all over the place.
and a driver sat in a tin box with an engine and car stereo can't hear anywhere near as much exterior noise as I can past my earphones.
Insurance companies will do ANYTHING to get out of actually paying out! Wankers!

 

[iXi]

Always listen to music, don't enjoy riding as much without it.

 

[Gary]

From your Avitar it looks like you can barely see anything at all with all your protective gear and helmet on.

 

[Another One]

Just wondered peoples thoughts / views on listening to music while riding ??

I ride mainly alone so thinking it would be good , but I guess there is the risk of not hearing traffic other riders walker or even something breaking down on the bike !!

anyone use them ??

Not for me spend all of my time and energy trying to stay on bike.

 

[Gary]

I'm not sure that's what your mum meant when she told you to use protection in bed

 

[RustyIron]

Just wondered peoples thoughts / views on listening to music while riding ??

No thanks. I go outside to experience the birds, the wind, the dirt beneath my tires.
If I want to listen to music, I'll join the Richard Simmons Jazzercise Spin Class.

 

[Juggy1985]

I only have the one in while riding so i can hear a little of the outside world.

 

[ilostmypassword]

I just recently picked up AirPods V3 and so far even cruising down fire roads etc at speed they stay in. If there is car horn I hear it too.

 

[Darren]

I use Aftershokz bone conducting headphones - they don't plug your ears so external traffic noise can still be heard relatively well. I can hear cars behind me when on country roads and they fit easily with a helmet and can be muted quickly if needed.

 

[Gary]

@Darren
How are those? I'd always imagined they'd lack bass or sound tinny.. No real reason to back up my assumption tho.

 

[Gary]

What sort of music do you all like to ride with?

For me when commuting (just an hour each way) it's generally either dark tekno, durty drum n bass via soundcloud or an eclectic mix of my entire D/L'd Spotify on shuffle. But occasionally an actual playlist if I've recently been listening to something specific.
For road rides (always more than a few hours) it's generally shuffled spotify.

 

[Darren]

@Darren
How are those? I'd always imagined they'd lack bass or sound tinny.. No real reason to back up my assumption tho.

They are not audiophile quality by a long chalk but not as bassless or tinny as you might think - at high speeds they don't stop wind noise as they obviously don't cover your ears but you can tilt your head to remove it from one ear at least. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them, I've been using them for over 2 years. Also useful indoors for youtube etc when you still need to hear when dinner is ready

 

[Darren]

What sort of music do you all like to ride with?

For me when commuting (just an hour each way) it's generally either dark tekno, durty drum n bass via soundcloud or an eclectic mix of my entire D/L'd Spotify on shuffle. But occasionally an actual playlist if I've recently been listening to something specific.
For road rides (always more than a few hours) it's generally shuffled spotify.

Some classics on this playlist:

😎 IBiZA 80s•90s ACiD HOUSE • BALEARiC RAVE

😎 IBiZA 80s•90s ACiD HOUSE • BALEARiC RAVE · Playlist · 293 songs · 2.7K likes

open.spotify.com

 

[B1rdie]

No thanks. I go outside to experience the birds, the wind, the dirt beneath my tires.
If I want to listen to music, I'll join the Richard Simmons Jazzercise Spin Class.

Thanks for the appretiation! We birds also love the tyre scratching jam sessions on the woods.

 

[Gary]

Some classics on this playlist:

😎 IBiZA 80s•90s ACiD HOUSE • BALEARiC RAVE

😎 IBiZA 80s•90s ACiD HOUSE • BALEARiC RAVE · Playlist · 293 songs · 2.7K likes

open.spotify.com

J'approuve braucoup. Merci!
(Sorry my Spanish is even worse )

Got a feeling you might like a lot of this too :

Pure Tribal Edinburgh Wave

Pure Tribal Edinburgh Wave · Playlist · 322 songs · 17 likes

open.spotify.com

An old friend's mix that sums up a portion of the 90s rave scene for us.

 

[jaselikebikes]

Coincidentally I just made a video on this subject.... maonly Airpods v Bone conducting headphones.

 

[Gary]

Good review. Cheers.

these are what I use.

A £20 find in TK MAXX
For the price they have good clear sound and not having in ear silicone cups like an airpod style wireless earbud they allow me to hear the traffic and my tyres on the road past the sound of the music with it still at a decent volume. Max volume is fairly loud so for riding I tend to run them about 80% (set from my phone) They don't have noise cancelling. But that's a good thing for cycling.
For indoor training (If I ever decide to do that again) I always just whack the house stereo up loud AF to drown out the sound of the rollers.
The little soft tabs on the silicone covers hook nicely inside the fold in your outer ears and stay put very very well without any need to attach any sort of cord to them and remain comfortable for hours of use. and they have proper buttons for controls. I found the touch sensitive controls on airpods and the copies a massive PITA when cycling as repositioning the bud caused them to skip track/stop/play/make a call etc. and they weren't secure enough that you didn't need to keep pushing them back in your ears fairly often.
one battery charge is good for about 4hrs and the storage case charges the buds 4 times before requiring a charge itself.
This isn't meant to be a recommendation or review just an example of what works well for me and what doesn't.

 

[KnollyBro]

J'approuve braucoup. Merci!
(Sorry my Spanish is even worse )

Got a feeling you might like a lot of this too :

Pure Tribal Edinburgh Wave

Pure Tribal Edinburgh Wave · Playlist · 322 songs · 17 likes

open.spotify.com

An old friend's mix that sums up a portion of the 90s rave scene for us.

What... no Boris Brejcha, 3LAU HAUS, David Guetta, Hardwell or Armin van Buuren? Music without Nickelback? Bikes without tires!

 

[Gary]

What... no Boris Brejcha, 3LAU HAUS, David Guetta, Hardwell or Armin van Buuren?

in 1988?
Boris was barely out of nursery. 3LAU and Hardwell weren't born, and David Guetta was shite! and still is

Armin van Burren is actually in there blindo

 

[Tubby G]

J'approuve braucoup. Merci!
(Sorry my Spanish is even worse )

Got a feeling you might like a lot of this too :

Pure Tribal Edinburgh Wave

Pure Tribal Edinburgh Wave · Playlist · 322 songs · 17 likes

open.spotify.com

An old friend's mix that sums up a portion of the 90s rave scene for us.

that playlist is like the soundtrack of my 20’s. Used to travel up to the Sub Club in Glasgow when Slam were hosting it. Harri was a resident DJ too. Good times

 

[Gary]

Yeah. I frequented the Sub Club more than once too

 

[jonmat]

I use my JBL Reflect Flow Pro’s when I ride off road and there are not many people around. On approaching a walker a simple press on the right earbud which mutes them so I can say hello and hear a response if there is one. Obviously on roads it does remove some of your awareness. I’ve been playing guitar for 50 years, so enjoy 80 bpm, rock, metal and sometimes classical. 80 or 90 bpm music can help you keep your cadence up. Deep Purple, Highway Star is a good track for that. When I ride with my son or another rider I never use my earbuds.

 

[7869hodgy]

+1 for Aftershokz